


Horn's Folly

by Floris_Oren



Category: Alias Smith and Jones
Genre: Character Death, Heyes does not have the plan, Heyes gets hurt, Horn isn't much of a badguy, Kid has the plan this time, Kid likes to tie Heyes up out of the blue, Not main character, One Shot, Short, Use of a Historical person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-19 06:13:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4735502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Floris_Oren/pseuds/Floris_Oren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heyes and Kid find themselves a barrel of trouble when they’re ambushed by Thomas Horn, the Wyoming Killer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Horn's Folly

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be....something. Not certain what. I guess I shouldn't be posting it but I'm still going to. lol. Anyway. Just a very short adventure for these two I didn't want to do a wip. I may if the notion hits me to make this longer.  
> Thomas Horn is a real person. I changed History a bit but here is a link in case anyone wants to read about him. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-tomhorn.html

A cacophony of thunder rattles the small canyon the two riders find themselves in. The sky above is overcast and one looks up to see if maybe they’d be rained on. A flash flood where they’re riding would kill both of them and their horses. Thunder is definitely not a good sign.

The sky, however, is bright blue. The sun shone bright and clear;  the river doesn’t swell from extra rain of any sort. The rider wearing a black hat is confused. His friend, just waves him off when black hat tried to get the other to notice the intrusion into their otherwise calm afternoon.

From a rock ledge high above, and not a place either are looking. Thomas Horn JR. admonishes himself for missing. He isn’t one to miss and he hates it when he does. The two below, thankfully, mistook his firing at them as a thunder clap. He knows this because the brown hatted one keeps telling his partner that he is hearing things. That it in fact wasn’t a gunshot of any sort and not to be so paranoid. His voice is loud enough to echo up to Horn who’s aiming for a second round.

Either he’s having an off day or the wind went against him, it could be the hand of God for all he knew. His second shot went wide and struck the black hatted one in the left shoulder. The horse bolted and the brown hatted fellow drew his pistol and shot back. He clearly hadn’t seen where Horn had fired from and his shot didn’t pose any threat to the Wyoming Killer.

Horn huffed a breath as the two beat a trail as fast as they could. He pulled himself out of the bushes and made for his horse he’d hidden safely yonder. He reloaded his rifle. He’d have to track them, but that shouldn’t be too hard. One feller was hurt and that meant blood.

~*~

“I told you!” Heyes hissed when Kid finally dug the bullet out with his Arkansas toothpick. The long knife was a bit blunt of an instrument to use on such a wound but they were out in the middle of no-place Nevada and it was all they had with them.

“I know, I know.” Kid muttered. He felt horrible about dismissing Heyes. Out of the two of them, and him being the hired gun, he should know what a gunshot sounds like in a canyon. Thing of it is that it did, in fact, sound like thunder. Heyes had looked for the signs of a flash flood but found none. Kid dismissed it as a hunter but that second shot wasn’t from a hunter.

“We’re being hunted down, Kid.” Heyes says softly. “Whoever shot me is after us, I feel it in my bones.” Heyes is prone to a bit of prattling and exaggeration; Kid is used to his talk and Heyes is certain sure of almost everything if the notion hits him just right. Kid, on the other hand, tended to ignore Heyes whenever he got dramatic over something.

But, this is different. The evidence is right there in front of him. If the bullet had gone for the back/chest area as the placement of the bullet wound suggested...even if it is in the shoulder. Heyes would have been dead.

Kid could not abide such a thing.

“We need to get to hire ground. Stop that bleeding and find the nearest town.” Kid said.

Heyes gazed at him tiredly. His excitement is wearing down and he’d be asleep in a few moments if they didn’t need to move. Heyes shook his head and started to wind his handkerchief around the wound. Kid helped and added his own. He tied them both tightly so as to bind the wound so it wouldn’t seep blood.

“Let’s get going.” Heyes says as he stands. “The sooner the better or we’ll be dead coons sooner than we think.” he swung himself onto his horse, one handed, which isn’t as easy as it looks. Kid got onto his and they picked ground which would be harder for their horses to mark up. Hopefully, this would take longer for their foe to find.

As long as said foe wasn’t an Apache tracker. Now that’s not a tracker anyone wants on their trail. Heyes kept a look out since he was first and Kid was behind him, bringing up the rear.

“I think whoever is after us will try to ambush us again.” Heyes said.

“Yup.” Kid replied.

“We’ll have to keep cover but make sure we aren’t hemmed in.”

‘Yup.”

“And you’re gonna take him out?” Heyes asked this question hurriedly. He hated to ask Kid to do a thing such as that when they were technically trying to keep their noses clean. Which grew harder as the days passed and they kept thinking about giving it up and going to Guatemala or some such.

“Yeah. Heyes.” Kid’s tone is rough and dark. Clearly angry. Heyes didn’t look back. If he did he knew he’d see danger in Kid’s every move. The man is not one to back down from a fight. And Heyes hated to ask him to do so. Even if it saved their hides a couple times. Kid had a protective streak a Mississippi mile wide and longer than the Tygress river.

Heyes hadn’t thought about it much; but Kid tended to be somewhat protective of him. Which is a nice thought and at least Kid isn’t the one riding with a bum shoulder. Heyes grits his teeth. It’d been numb before. Pain blossomed up in his arm and he wished he could lie down.

That would be the end of them. What they needed is a plan…

….a prayer wouldn’t go amiss either.

~*~

2 days before

~*~

Kingdom City isn’t what one would call a city. More like it’s a small boomtown looking to be a huge tourist spot whenever they can clean it up some. So far, only miners and immigrants looking to make a living have arrived. Most of the city is tents, some of it is log buildings.

The General Store and Sheriff’s office are the only finished buildings in the whole place. The saloon doubles as a Restaurant and as such the women working there aren’t as free around the men because their wives tended to be in attendance more often than not.

Phoebe Gooch and Fleda Redd are attending to the cooking and dishwashing as families leave and others arrive. The dinner rush is the most stressful. Each woman helps the other as much as possible. Fleda runs the food as each order is finished.

“Hey, you remember that gang we ran into over in Wyoming a few years back?” Fleda says to Phoebe when she comes back from the bigger tent.

“Yeah.” Phoebe will never forget the dazzling smile of Heyes. He was a looker and he knew it. He probably could get any girl he wanted. But he’d been such a gentlemen with her, and Fleda, though she was far more into the blonde Kid.

“I think they’s in trouble.” Fleba said.

‘Huh?” Phoebe didn’t like the sound of that. Of course the news had gotten around that the two had left the Devil’s Hole Gang and were making it on their own, helping people as opposed to robbing trains or banks.

“You can’t go up to them and tell them.” Phoebe said.

“I’ll write a note.” Fleda solved their problem. She rushed off to their tent. She had the presence of mind to send another girl to help Phoebe before she’d be missed. Phoebe lost track of her after that but fifteen minutes later when she returned to her duties there was a smile on her face.

Phoebe nodded and they went on with their work.

Heyes finds the note two days later. His shoulder bleeding and someone on the war path.

~*~

Present

~*~

“What’d you got there?” Kid asked when they dared to stop and rest. Heyes has a disgusted look on his face. He flapps the paper in his gloved hands.

“It’s a note.” Heyes says simply.

“Yeah?” Kid nodded.

“A note left for me.” Heyes continued starkly.

“Okay, and?” Kid demanded.

“It’s marked Urgent.” Heyes flaps it again.

“Well. What’s it say?”

“That we’re in trouble.”

“We know that already. Does it have anything new to say?”

“We’re being hunted by Thomas Horn.” Heyes sighs.

“You don’t mean….?” Kid groaned and scrubbed his face. Particles of dirt smudged thanks to his dirty gloves.

“The Wyoming Killer.” Heyes shook his head. “I thought he hanged a few years back.”

“Huh, funny, I thought he walked.” Kid added.

“Well, dead or alive we’re sunk.” Heyes admonished.

“Don’t you have a plan?”

“Nope.”

Kid cursed a blue streak under his breath. Heyes rolled his eyes and then looked up at the sky. “We’ll be fine.” he says finally.

“We’ll be dead.” Kid countered.

“What’s finer than death?” Heyes shots back.

“The way we die?”

“True.” Heyes nods. Kid looks back at him and finds that glint which told Heyes had a plan is decidedly absent. Kid frowns, He glares at the ground as Heyes turns away and puts the note away. Wishing he’d known that a couple days earlier.

“There’s nothing for it.” Kid says. He smoothly takes his gun out of his belt.

‘True.” Heyes mutters with a sigh. Before he can turn around he’s hit upon the back of the head. He sees stars and then the ground. He moans, not entirely knocked out.

“Sorry Heyes. Buddy.” Kid says as he takes some rope from his saddle.

“What…..?” Heyes muttered as he’s tied up. Kid is at least gentle with his wounded shoulder. “...are you doing?” he finishes when he’s lashed to a tree. It’s not the first time Kid has tied him up to keep him out of trouble. Maybe just the third.

“Heyes. You know I’m fond of ya. I don’t want ya to get hurt. This one has to be done between gunfighters. Ya know?” Kid tightens the rope knowing Heyes penchant for getting out of tight situations.

“Kid...come on….please?” Heyes tried. He wiggled within the ropes. One hand is tied behind him and the other in front which belonged to the wounded shoulder. The rope crawls about his body in random twists and turns in order to confuse him. The tree is unmoving and he can’t reach any of the knots Kid ties.

“Do rest, Heyes. I’ll be back when I get Horn.” then he stuffs Heyes mouth with a second handkerchief from his person. Heyes moaned through it but Kid patted him atop the head and then headed off.

Heyes sighed. He was a sitting duck. He hoped Kid wouldn’t be too far when Horn came sniffing around.

“Well, well, what do we have here….?”

Heyes growled, speaking of Horn.

“That was a turnabout thing for yer friend ta do ta ya?” the man knelt down beside Heyes. He poked the wounded shoulder. Heyes groaned at the pain it rose within.

“Wlep. Ya sit tight here, pal, while I go an’ get yer friend.” Horn rose to his feet.

“Stop right there.” Kid’s voice yelled out.

Heyes screamed something but being gagged Kid wasn’t able to make out the curses Heyes sent his way. Horn stood still but straightened slowly.

“Now, ya have two choices.” Horn said.  “Ya can give up or ya can get dead.” and that’s when he went for his gun. Kid had given him an even chance. He drew his gun and shot before Horn had even cleared his. The man fell down beside Heyes who simply just glared at Kid.

Kid walked out of the woods; he replaced his gun before going about untying Heyes.

“Okay, and I had to be tied up for that?” Heyes asked.

“I figured that if he felt he had one of us he’d be more apt to take the other on. Sorry for tying you up like that. Ya know, without asking and stuff.”

Heyes frowned. “Fine, just this once I won’t get mad at ya. Now. is he alive?” Heyes asked. Kid re-wound his ropes before going over to Horn.

“He’s dead.” Kid replied.

“Okay.” Heyes had gotten to his feet.

‘Let’s bury him. Seeing as how we’re too far from any town.” Heyes said. He got a small spade from his horse, and another from Kid’s.

“Sure.” Kid agreed.

It didn’t take them too long. The ground was soft and soon they’d dug, Kid more so than Heyes, a proper grave. They covered the body and made a cross out of sticks they found around the forest.

Heyes almost fell off his horse when he got back on it.

“I’ll bind that up good and proper,” Kid said. “Let’s just find a good place to camp, okay?”

“Sure.” Heyes moaned. “At least we got rid of Horn. I don’t want to contemplate what would have happened if you hadn’t gotten the drop on him.” Heyes cringes as he has to use his wounded arm to support him a bit.

“He probably would have killed us.” Kid said in no uncertain terms since they had talked about it before. Heyes shook his head.

‘Well, at least one of us had a plan.”

“Yeah. You’re not all that all the time ya know.” Kid grinned. Heyes lets out a barking laugh himself and the two ride on, away from the grave and what would have been their end.


End file.
